I am disconnecting my internet today and will not have it again for a few days.
So in the mean time feel free to leave a personalized caption for this photo - not that I am wearing that big of a grin these days.. moving is so much fun.

I think that the boycott is a bit of a two-edged sword - it may send a message to BP executives but it also hurts American small business owners that had nothing to do with the oil rig explosion and subsequent spillage. And I wonder how fair a BP reduction in gas prices would be to other oil companies.. not that I would mind lower gas prices mind you.As more Americans shun BP gasoline as a form of protest over the Gulf oil spill, station owners are insisting BP do more to help them convince motorists that such boycotts mostly hurt independently owned businesses, not the British oil giant.
To win back customers, they'd like the company's help in reducing the price at the pump. ... Station owners and BP gas distributors told BP officials last week they need a break on the cost of the gas they buy, and they want help paying for more advertising aimed at motorists, according to John Kleine, executive director of the independent BP Amoco Marketers Association.
What's sad is the reason that we avoid conflict is because we believe it (conflict) causes divorce. It's like the cartoon where the couple explains to the marriage counselor, "We never talk anymore. We figured out that's when we do all our fighting."I think that I really understand this phenomenon. I think that it takes a tremendous amount of something.. call it love I guess.. to talk about the hard stuff.. to delve into our frustrations with each other. I think that, over time, our frustrations only get deeper and usually morph into something darker. It is like an infection - if left untreated it gets worse and eventually drastic measures are needed to save the body.
In the beginning, we avoid conflict because we are in love and we believe that "staying in love" is about agreeing, about NOT fighting. We're afraid that if we disagree - or fight - we'll run our marriage off into the ditch. We believe that if we've found our soulmate, we'll agree about most things - and certainly about the important things.
Later, we avoid conflict because when we try to deal with our differences things get so out of hand and our fights so destructive and upsetting that we simply shut down. After a few bad blow-ups we become determined to avoid conflict at any cost. And, we start wondering if we married the wrong person. It shouldn't be this hard.
The divorce courts have it all wrong. "Irreconcilable differences" – like a bad knee or a chronic back – are not a reason to divorce. Instead, they are part of every good marriage.I think that they are right about conflict avoidance being a predictor of divorce. I know that in my own life our marital relationship has only gotten stronger when we deal with the really difficult issues. It is hard but so worthwhile. I also think that they are spot on about differences being a part of a good marriage. I mean really.. lol.. who would want to be married to an opposite sex version of themselves?
I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast.I think that passion can be defined using two words from this line: purpose and pleasure. When Eric Liddel, a man who would in time be remembered as a martyred missionary to China, ran in the 1924 Olympics he ran as a man filled with passion.. passion for God.. if you remember the movie.. he would not run in a race because of his conviction about not running on the Sundays. He also seemed to have a passion for life.. it seemed that whatever he did he did it with all he had. Here is a passage from another scene in the movie where Eric is addressing a crowd that watched him race:
And when I run I feel His pleasure.
You came to see a race today. To see someone win. It happened to be me. But I want you to do more than just watch a race. I want you to take part in it. I want to compare faith to running in a race. It's hard. It requires concentration of will, energy of soul. You experience elation when the winner breaks the tape - especially if you've got a bet on it. But how long does that last? You go home. Maybe you're dinner's burnt. Maybe you haven't got a job.I find that those I know who seem to have real passion for life and for God seem to have a deep inner purpose and experience pleasure in carrying out that purpose. Have you been around people like that? What do you think of when you hear the word passion?
So who am I to say, "Believe, have faith," in the face of life's realities? I would like to give you something more permanent, but I can only point the way. I have no formula for winning the race. Everyone runs in her own way, or his own way. And where does the power come from, to see the race to its end? From within. Jesus said, "Behold, the Kingdom of God is within you. If with all your hearts, you truly seek me, you shall ever surely find me." If you commit yourself to the love of Christ, then that is how you run a straight race.
I wanted to like this movie, but there wasn't enough "movie" to like. It was a great ensemble cast full of well sketched characters, but there needed to be more development into these 2 dimensional DJs. Also the plot was too simplistic. You have 2 guys trying to shut down pirate radio, but really they were just a foil to show how uptight they were compared to the radio personalities. The music was fantastic and the acting was fun, but there should have been more substance beyond that. I give the movie 2 stars, music 5 stars.This movie took forever to arrive.. Netflix had in on "long wait" ever since it was released on DVD.. hence, my expectations were fairly high. Like vqn I wanted to like this movie - it did have some good moments but overall there wasn't much to it and it came across as a bit juvenile. So, I really wouldn't recommend it.. even the music wasn't as great as vqn thought it was - I liked the tunes but did not love them. On a scale of 10 I give this movie ★★★★
"Love has no place in a lawyer's office."The decision to seek the counsel of a divorce lawyer is a telling one. It can be a wise decision if it is preceded by heartfelt efforts of relational problem solving with the help of a good counselor. Unfortunately though, things like abuse and years of unresolved relational problems lead a person directly to the lawyer's office.
When reporter Jean Craddock (Oscar nominee Maggie Gyllenhaal) interviews Bad Blake (Oscar winner Jeff Bridges) -- an alcoholic, seen-better-days country music legend -- they connect, and the hard-living crooner sees a possible saving grace in a life with Jean and her young son. But can he leave behind an existence playing in the shadow of Tommy (Colin Farrell), the upstart kid he once mentored?What I liked about this one was (surprise!) Jeff Bridges. Apart from him the movie would not have got the acclaim that it did and it would not have been that good. It was difficult to watch Bridges' R-rated portrayal of a man crippled and broken by alcohol. The movie is a portrayal of what booze can do to gifted people. It shows how a person can sacrifice everything.. relationships.. marriages.. careers.. self-respect.. at the altar of addiction.
So, Starbucks plans to offer free wireless Internet at all of its U.S. stores starting July 1. It's a friendly gesture, certainly, one that could very well draw more customers to the coffee chain's thousands of outlets. Then again, the Wi-Fi perk may prove a little too successful, particularly if it attracts a particular breed of wireless hound.My response to Jeff.. in the words spoken by Bobby D in Taxi Driver.. "You talkin to me?" Yes, I have been known to squat at $tarbucks chatting with a friend as I suck down a $3-4 latte - sometimes I am $4-thirsty and others $3-thirsty.. and I rarely buy any of their bad eats.. I mean come on.. can't they find a fresh (emphasize fresh) pastry or bagel? Or maybe a few slices of microwaved bacon? Sadly.. unlike their competitor Panera they do not.
You know the type. Offer free Wi-Fi and they will come--and never leave. Equipped with a laptop, cell phone, orthopedic backrest, and possibly even a Tupperware lunch, they'll hunker down in a leather chair or commandeer the best table--the one nearest the AC outlet, naturally. Often they seem to travel in packs; a free-Wi-Fi zone may face an infestation of laptop-toting loafers, a sea of glowing LCDs filling every corner of the coffee house. The neighborhood java hut often becomes their home office away from home.
Sure, some squatters may purchase a small latte, maybe even a bran muffin or a decaf refill after hours of loitering. But their small acts of patronage won't compensate for the ill will they generate, both in the minds of other (irate) customers who can't find an open table, and in the merchant's undernourished coffers.
One of the most widely noted findings from the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS 2008), which was released in March 2009, was the substantial increase in the No Religion segment of the U.S. population, whom we designate as "Nones." The Nones increased from 8.1% of the U.S. adult population in 1990 to 15% in 2008 and from 14 to 34 million adults. Their numbers far exceed the combined total of all the non-Christian religious groups in the U.S.I think that the "rational skeptics" description is representative of many folks that I have met outside of the four walls of the church. Many folks that I have met in the Blogosphere are one-time church going people who have had sincere and honest questions about their beliefs. I once thought that these folks were simply people that have been let down or hurt by "the church".. that may be true of some but it is certainly not the majority of the great folks that I have encountered.
Who exactly are the Nones? "None" is not a movement, but a label for a diverse group of people who do not identify with any of the myriad of religious options in the American religious marketplace – the irreligious, the unreligious, the anti-religious, and the anti-clerical. Some believe in God; some do not. Some may participate occasionally in religious rituals; others never will.
Nones are easily misunderstood. On the one hand, only a small minority are atheists. On the other hand, it is also not correct to describe them as "unchurched" or "unaffiliated" on the assumption that they are mainly theists and religious searchers who are temporarily between congregations. Yet another incorrect assumption is that large proportions of Nones are anti-rationalist proponents of New Age and supernatural ideas. As we will show, they are more likely to be rational skeptics.
When I think about our flag I alway think of the US National Anthem. Here is a historical reminder from Wikipedia of the link between the flag and the song:Every year on June 14, we celebrate the birthday of the Stars and Stripes. On that date in 1777, the Second Continental Congress authorized a new flag to symbolize the new nation, the United States of America. The first national observance of Flag Day followed on June 14, 1877, the centennial of the original flag resolution.
By the mid 1890s the observance of Flag Day on June 14 was a popular event and, due to growing public support for an official national observance, in 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation calling for a nationwide observance of Flag Day on June 14. It was not until 1949, however, that Congress made this day a permanent observance by resolving, “That the 14th day of June of each year is hereby designated as Flag Day…”
Our flag continues, to this day, to be a symbol of strength, hope, and a source of pride for Americans.
The lyrics come from "Defence of Fort McHenry", a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy ships in Chesapeake Bay during the Battle of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812.I still wax patriotic when I hear these lyrics from the song:
The poem was set to the tune of a popular British drinking song, written by John Stafford Smith for the Anacreontic Society, a men's social club in London. Set to Key's poem and renamed "The Star-Spangled Banner", it would soon become a well-known American patriotic song.
"The Star-Spangled Banner" was recognized for official use by the Navy in 1889 and the President in 1916, and was made the national anthem by a congressional resolution on March 3, 1931.
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,Our flag flies over soldiers, students, bureaucrats, and peoples who have come here from all nations. It has flown in war and in peace. It has flown on the moon. It represents courage, compassion and strength. Long may it wave.
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.”Chapter 2: On the heels of this devastation Job is struck with boils all over his body. His wife is in a level of pain that very few people can relate to. Here is Job’s response to his wife:
“You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”Chapter 3: Some time has passed … Job has been visited by friends … the pain of his loss has taken hold. Job is coming out of denial and responds:
After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.In March of 1990 my first wife Ellen had a heart attack and kidney failure at the age of 39 … after four years of declining health and hemodialysis Ellen passed away in 1994. My initial responses to my pain were very much like Job’s. Masking my inner devastation I often spoke words that were very religious … albeit empty and devoid of inner truth.
My unofficial, thoroughly unscientific Repository Newsroom Poll uncovered the top five reasons most Americans won't watch the World Cup:Now I have to say that, apart from my son's soccer games of the 80s and 90s, I never watch the sport. And I wonder if many Americans really get into the World Cup games or if we are as apathetic about it as Charita thinks? Will you watch America and Britain kick it out today or will you find something else to do?
- The field is so large, it looks like an ant farm on TV.
- It’s boring.
- If I we wanted to see good-looking people running, kicking and crying, we’d just watch Bravo.
- It's boring.
- America never wins.
If memory serves me right Oz was remade starring Michael Jackson and was called "The Wiz". And in a sense "The Godfather", "Ghostbusters" and "The Exorcist" was remade in sequels. But I digress.. the TV folks wanted to know what movies we would add to the list. Here are just a few off the top of my head that I would not remake:- The Wizard of Oz
- The Godfather
- Casablanca
- Caddyshack
- Ghost Busters
- The Princess Bride
- Arthur
- Goodfellas
- Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
- E.T.
- The Exorcist
- Coming to America
Anyone who has experienced a certain amount of loss in their life has empathy for those who have experienced loss. -Anderson CooperI think that is true.. as we age we experience loss and are often more empathetic.
The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy. -Meryl StreepMaybe this ability to empathize is what separates humanity from all of creation? Our ability to feel other's pain is an amazing gift for sure.
There is also a natural and very, very strong empathy with the underdog, with people who have suffered, people who have been pushed around by foreigners in particular, but also by their own people. -Lakhdar BrahimiRooting for the underdog is another aspect of empathy. Who isn't moved by someone who has fought all odds and overcome? We all rooted for Rocky.
I hope to leave my children a sense of empathy and pity and a will to right social wrongs. -Anita RoddickI think that empathy is at the heart of social activism and is the reason people can escape beyond themselves and help people who are hurting and hopeless.
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.When I think about the Jesus of the gospels I think about empathy and compassion. I think that one of the reasons that Jesus came was to teach us and show us that God is a being who is rich in empathy and that when we hurt he is there empathizing and showing us what is means to be truly human. It is in this context that prayer makes sense - we pray because we know God cares.
-Book of Hebrews
Are all old guys wise?Of course the answer is "maybe not".. or is it "maybe so"? Without get into a long definition of wisdom and what it means to be wise I would like to say that I think part of what it means to be wise is to have experience - both the good and the bad sort. I would categorically say that I am wiser now then I was when I was younger.. hands down I have learned from both my successes and my failures. Who can say that they have not grown wiser with age?
Should Elders be elder?Yes.. I am sorta speaking of church.. but I think the question is even broader than that. People seem to be preoccupied with youthful leaders - I think that one of the appeals of candidate Barack Obama was his youthful energy.. while candidate John McCain seemed old standing beside him.. even a Saturday Night Live skit played on McCain's elderlyness. And I have to admit that this seems to bleed over into the religious world as well.. I know church "Elders" who are in their 20s and 30s.. not too elderly for sure.
When was the last time you sat in your office and did absolutely nothing?Heather goes on to speak about how obsessively connected she was, via Facebook and email, during a recent retreat with her singing group. I can relate.. even in this season of retirement I seem to be busy all of the time multitasking things on that really don't matter all that much. Heather ends by speaking to our need for "rest":
And I mean nothing: took your hands off the keyboard, shut the ringer down off your mobile device, and stared out the window and thought creative thoughts about how you could be a better leader or manager or team contributors? I bet very few of you reading this are able to sit still and do this for more than five minutes. I dare you! Set the timer on your cell phone if you absolutely must.
I have often theorized in the past several years with my colleagues and friends and family that we are a nation, a generation (because it’s affecting people of every age) that has been conditioned to have attention deficit disorder (ADD). In fact, in some ways, you can’t be successful if you don’t have it. As I write this, I’m checking e-mail, since I’ve got four (five?) different accounts and I received literally hundreds every day. I’ve got my Google reader and my calendar for the workday open, and I’ve just printed an article from the New York Times about this very topic so that I can look away from my computer for a few moments and collect my thoughts about what I’m writing.
But one way to make better use of the time we must spend multitasking is to make sure that we pick at least one small window of time every day in which our brains can rest while awake, can tap into our imagination. I was about to say a time in which we can think like a “child,” but sadly many of our children haven’t every been allowed to do this. Is that smart?That last question hits to the heart of the issue. It does not seem smart to get stressed out by our need to be busy every day. I know that even my "quiet times" can be all about doing - praying.. studying.. meditating.. reading.. anything but a time of quiet. Possibly.. as Heather suggests.. each day I need to make sure that I rest my brain.. it does need a break.
I think that worry is a natural response from our brain because, generally speaking, we worry about the things that we have no control over. We worry about our future, our health and our kids.. and the futility of worry becomes so evident over time.. yet we continue to do it instead of engaging our gut. Some lessons are so hard to learnGenerally I found that I did not worry that much in my early life.. I was pretty resilient and even when my wife went blind when I was 22 I do not remember worrying that much.. I do remember crying though.
As life goes on though we do see a lot of bad stuff happening.. bad stuff happens to us.. my wife died when she was 43.. other bad stuff followed.. my kids acted out as they grieved her loss with all sorts of bad behaviors.. I was diagnosed with a rare blood disease that caused disability in my joints.. my second wife got real sick and is now in a wheelchair.
So when I think about the future I sometimes wonder what God will allow to afflict me.. not sure that it is worry.. but I do ponder the future.. always a problem when our brains are engaged. But when I engage my innermost being (i.e. my gut) I find that I have hope.. not that bad stuff will not happen to me.. but that God will be with me if it does. And IMO that makes all of the difference.
Jesus said that we would have trials.. He also promised to be there when we do.. a message from His heart to ours.. now if I could just disengage my brain :)
"As horrible as that environmental disaster is (and it's undeniably horrible), the spilling of red ink coming out of Washington poses an ever growing threat to the life of our nation."I agree with Robin. And as I have been uber-busy these days with the activities of moving to a new place I thought that I would simply solicit your input on both the fiscal and geological bleedings. What lessons do you think Americans should take away from them?